Week 11 training - A much better week

This week has been a much better training week compared to last week.

The durations went back up after last week's rest week.

On Monday I had a complete rest day with no thoughts of exercise at all. And boy it was bliss and much needed after last weekend.

Tuesday as usual was my weekly track session. The torture this week was 8 reps of 1km with 90 seconds rest. I really am starting to enjoy track sessions. Yes they hurt but they help me improve. In fact Tuesdays track session was still felt in my legs on Friday.

I decided to run the track session in my Skechers Go Run 2. The reason for the change of footwear? Well I have entered the Gainsborough 10km and plan on running the race in these trainers so thought I'd better get some miles in them. I had absolutely no hot spots or blisters after the 7 miles. I wasn't expecting that in all honesty. The lightness of the trainers helped me post some good splits. I felt really strong up until rep 4 when bizarrely I struggled to breath towards the end. I could not get air into my lungs. To be honest this scared me a bit. I missed rep 5 as a result but completed reps 6 through 8. The warm down of 2 miles was good. After I got home my calves were killing me.

Thankfully Wednesday was a bike and swim day rather than a run day. I went to the pool after work with the aim of completing 20 reps of 100m of decreasing rest times.

I was aiming to complete 5 reps off 2:20, 5 reps off 2:10, 5 reps off 2:00 and 5 reps off 1:50. However the other pool users put paid to that. After my 10th rep someone was swimming catch up with a float in the fast lane. Rather than persevere and get stressed, I got out and went home.

I followed up my 1km swim with a 45 minute Trainer Road session. The workout I chose was West Vidette. This seems to have become my fallback ride when I need a session of 45 minutes. It is quite relaxed when compared to some other workouts and I wanted to play around with my saddle position on #Rinnie again.

On Thursday I had a 1:15 Trainer Road session planned but had to end it early after the other Coach for swimming got in touch as he was stuck in traffic and needed me to plan the session. I stopped my session after 45 minutes. After eating my tea, I then went coaching. I really enjoy coaching my beginner swimmers and some of them are starting to make real progress which is pleasing.

Friday involved a 1 hour run after work. I was dreading this as the weather looked horrendous with heavy rain and 40mph gusts forecast. I suited up to accommodate such weather and set off running with no rain and a moderate wind. The clothing I had picked caused me to overheat considerably and sweat a lot but did keep the wind off me. I managed to set a new distance PB for one hour which was a nice bonus. I went through 10km just outside my PB time which was OK as the run was entirely in zone 2. I asked Dave Tune what he thought I could complete Gainsborough in and he said he didn't think I had posted my best 5km time yet so wouldn't like to comment but thought 50 minutes was achievable.

On Saturday I had a brick session planned and despite some extreme procrastination got on my turbo. I picked a Trainer Road session where each interval got progressively harder starting at 60% FTP and ending at 100% FTP. This was really challenging but enjoyable. I quickly got changed and started running. In the half hour I managed to complete a 27 minute 5km with 97% of the time below my lactate threshold. The only time I went above my LTHR was climbing a hill. This is encouraging as it proves I was working hard on the climb. I was pleased with my session.

Today I planned to spend 3 hours on my turbo watching films but when I woke the weather looked promising so I changed my plans. I decided to brave the outside elements for my three hour ride. This  ride was invigorating and a welcome change to the turbo chamber. I made a conscious effort to keep  my HR at 140 bpm (middle of zone 2) and my cadence at around 80 rpm. This seemed to work well for me. I averaged 17.5 mph across the ride and felt really strong, which was encouraging given the headwinds that were about today. It felt really good overtaking a group of riders travelling into a headwind. It's looking like the hours on the turbo are paying off.  On the next ride I will try and keep my HR at 140 but up my cadence to 90 rpm.

The constant swapping of saddles on #Rinnie meant that my normally comfy Prologue on my roadie was not comfy anymore. It wasn't painful but I knew I was sat on a different saddle. 

I don't mind admitting to being knackered this evening but I have posted another successful training week.

Another thing I learnt today was that unless I have a bottle in front of my eyes, I forget to drink when on the bike. I have remedied this for my TT bike and ordered a new nutrition set up.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

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